Key index dips below 4,600-mark

Stocks witnessed a major setback Wednesday after two session's marginal gain with key index of the major bourse dipping below 4,600-mark as investors went for panic-sell amid deepening political unrest in the country.
The market opened with a negative note which sustained throughout the session. At the end of the session, DSEX, the prime index of the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) dipped below the 4,600-mark after more than six months and ended at 4,585.72 points, shedding 63.57 points or 1.36 per cent.
The two other indices also closed in red. The DS30 index, comprising blue chips plunged 13.36 points or 0.77 per cent to close at 1,716.54 points. The DSE Shariah Index (DSES) shed 9.76 points or 0.87 per cent to close at 1,105.99 points.
However, turnover on the DSE crossed Tk 3.0 billion-mark, driven by panic-sell and amounted to Tk 3.10 billion, registering an increase of 21.56 per cent over the previous session's value of Tk 2.55 billion.
The investors' attention was mostly focused on power, pharma and engineering - the sectors that accounted for 18.9 per cent, 14.4 per cent and 14.2 per cent of the day's total turnover respectively.
"The stock market witnessed a major setback amid the panicky sell pressure from the investors," said International Leasing Securities in an analysis.
"Investors went for the short-term profit booking strategy as persistent gloomy micro-economic and political outlook deepening the cautiousness," said the International Leasing.
The investors might also have reacted to the revised downward gross domestic product (GDP) growth forecast by International Monetary Fund (IMF) to 6.0 per cent in Bangladesh, said the International Leasing.
LankaBangla Securities said: "After as single day pause, opposition party continued the nationwide strike which made investors worried about market outlook".
Banking stocks took the highest hit. However, imminent annual declaration of some manufacturing stocks enticed investors to take position, said the stock broker.
IDLC Investments said: "Impatience shredded the market, after previous day's small gain. Investors delivered a knee-jerk reaction to last session's positive close, deciding to book the gain".
Among the major sectors, food and allied sector gained 2.05 per cent. Pharmaceuticals closed flat in green with 0.03 per cent gain. The other major sectors closed lower - banks registered the highest loss of the session of 2.96 per cent.
Fuel and power also went down by a significant 1.92 per cent. NBFIs closed lower by 1.37 per cent. Telecommunication and cement closed in red losing 0.49 per cent and 0.37 per cent respectively.
The losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 308 issues traded, 234 declined and 43 advanced while 32 remained unchanged on the DSE floor.
Activities increased in the major bourse where trade and volume were up by 19.64 per cent and 9.68 per cent respectively. A total number of 0.095 million trades were executed with trading volume of 62.17 million securities.
The market capitalisation on DSE stood at Tk 3,146.27 billion against Tk 3,171.04 billion in the previous session.
Shasha Denims was the day's top turnover chart with shares worth Tk 240.63 million changing hands followed by SPCL, IFAD Autos, Lafarge Surma Cement and ACI.
Northern Jute Manufacturing was the day's top gainer, posting a rise of 9.17 per cent while Bank Asia was the worst loser, plunging by 13.95 per cent following its price adjustment after record date.  
The port city bourse, Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also closed in the red with its Selective Categories Index - CSCX - lost 105.07 points to close at 8,509.08 points.
Losers beat gainers 174 to 30, with 30 issues remaining unchanged at the port city bourse that traded 7.58 million shares and mutual fund units, turnover value of Tk 282.88 million.
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